Muse celebrate 20 years of Origin Of Symmetry with new anniversary remix edition
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21.05.2021

Muse celebrate 20 years of Origin Of Symmetry with new anniversary remix edition

Words by Will Brewster

The band's 2001 breakthrough is being remixed for a re-release this June.

Released into the world in 2001, Muse’s sophomore record Origin Of Symmetry was nothing short of tremendous for its time.

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Combining Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme’s punishing rhythm section with the eclectic guitars and soaring vocals of Matt Bellamy, the UK act flipped the alternative scene on its head with iconic tracks like ‘Plug In Baby’, ‘New Born’ and ‘Citizen Erased’, winning critical acclaim and solidifying themselves as one of the best live acts of that era.

Now, 20 years on from its release, Muse have detailed plans tor reissue the record next month with a new mix and master, offering a fresh take on one of the band’s most beloved efforts.

For the remix, Muse enlisted the services of Rich Costey, who produced and mixed much of the band’s material on later projects, to revisit the original tracks for Origin Of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX, which was also mastered at Abbey Road Studs by Alex Wharton.

As opposed to a conventional ‘remix’ album that sees other artists reinterpret the source material, Costey took to the record with a critical eye to reimagine the album with renewed clarity and a more expansive dynamic range, eschewing the loudness war-era mix that was bestowed upon the original.

A press release shared today notes that thanks to Costey’s rework, various elements of tracks on the record can be heard much more prominently, particularly noting ‘a harpsichord on Micro Cuts” and Abbey Road recorded strings on “Citizen Erased”, “Megalomania” and “Space Dementia”.’

Additionally, the band have also added  deep-cut ‘Futurism’ to the track-list, placing it between ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘Meglomania’ to reflect its placing in 2019’s boxset Origin Of Muse. 

The remixed album also features a modern reimagining of the record’s artwork from Sujin Kim, who recreated the original William Eager cover image with a hyper-realistic 3D render.

“In revisiting the album what we found was the original mixes on the singles, like Plug In Baby’ and ‘Bliss’, were pretty good so they were the hardest ones to improve,” frontman Matt Bellamy said of the mixing experience in a press release today.

“It was the deeper album tracks like ‘Micro Cuts’ where we were able to make massive breakthroughs.”

Origin Of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX receives a digital release on Friday June 18, with physical copies following on Friday July 9. Listen to the first track from the remixed album ‘Citizen Erased’ – often considered by fans as one of the band’s best-ever tracks – below.

Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX is available to preorder here.